Man charged with first-degree murder in wife’s killing

Citing evidence that his bloody footprints and cell phone were found at the scene, the Park County Attorney’s Office has charged 28-year-old Myron Friday with the murder of his wife in Cody.

Friday, 28, faces a count of first-degree murder in connection with the killing of 44-year-old Julie Friday on the night of Feb. 26.

At his initial court appearance last week, Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters set Friday’s bond at $1 million, which must be posted in cash.

Deputy Park County Tim Blatt argued for Friday to be held without bail, saying the evidence against Friday was strong.

A murder suspect can only be held without bail if the proof is evident or the presumption great, and Waters agreed with Friday’s court-appointed attorney, Nick Beduhn of Cody, that such a finding wasn’t appropriate last week.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday at 4 p.m., though such hearings are often rescheduled.

A memorial service for Julie Friday was held in Riverton last week, and an online guestbook in her honor drew a number of fond memories and well wishes for her family. Julie Friday had two daughters and one son.

“I am very thankful that she was always there to be around when I needed someone to talk to,” reads a portion of a guestbook comment from Jo Lynn Apadaca Waters, who identified herself as a former co-worker. “I hope that she can now rest in peace and not live her life in fear.”

“At least four” of the punctures would have been fatal, an autopsy concluded, and another of the blows went through her hand, says an affidavit from Cody Police Detective Ron Parduba.

Her body was found at around 11 p.m. by her son.

According to Parduba’s affidavit, the 17-year-old later told police that he, his stepfather Myron and mother Julie watched the NBA All-Star game the night of the murder.

The son said he and Myron Friday left to get money and candy bars from his sister, Shandal Veach, but on the way there, Friday reportedly changed his mind and wanted to go back home.

The son said he dropped Friday off at the residence, 208 33rd Street, around 8:40 p.m. and went and hung out with Veach and her boyfriend.

Around 9:30 p.m., the son returned home and found the front door locked. Julie Friday didn’t answer her phone and no one answered the door.

He got a key from Veach and went back, but found the deadbolt was also locked. The son was ultimately able to get into the house via the back door and found his mother’s dead body in her bedroom, her face covered by a black shirt.

He called Veach in hysterics. She arrived, ran to her mother’s bedroom and “saw blood everywhere,” Veach told Parduba. Police were called around 11 p.m.

A neighbor, Suzette Sumpter, told police that Friday came to her home just before 11 p.m., looking for a ride.

While at Sumpter’s home, Friday dripped blood on the floor and washed his face — which had blood on the left side, the affidavit says. Sumpter told police that it appeared Friday had been “socked in the mouth.”

Muddy shoes prints left at Sumpter’s residence appeared to match those from the crime scene, Parduba said.

Friday was arrested at a C Street residence at 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 27 after a daylong search. The tread pattern on the shoes he was wearing appeared to match the bloody prints found in Julie Friday’s bedroom, Parduba wrote. There are no crime lab results included in the affidavit.

In custody, Friday reportedly told police that he had gone inside Julie Friday’s residence after her son dropped him off and that he was told to leave. Myron Friday ultimately invoked his right to be represented by an attorney.

Friday initially was booked on suspicion of second-degree murder, which applies to allegations where an individual has been killed “purposely and maliciously, but without premeditation,” but the Park County Attorney’s Office ultimately chose to charge Friday with first-degree murder, which alleges the killing was done with premeditated malice.

Veach, who reportedly did not get along with Myron Friday, told police that he had threatened to kill Julie if she ever cheated on him; the day before the murder, he learned she had gone out with other men while the couple was separated, and he threatened to kill her, Veach reportedly said.

Court records speak to two altercations between Friday and his wife in 2011 that led to misdemeanor criminal charges against him — one in May in which he caused a disturbance while Julie Friday was being treated at West Park Hospital and one in July in which he reportedly kicked in her door and broke her phone.

Friday was represented by a court-appointed attorney in both 2011 cases, which required him to fill out a form with basic details about himself.

In May and July, Friday listed his home address as 208 33rd St. and said he lived with his wife.

When he filled out the same form last week, Friday again gave 208 33rd St. as his home address, but in the blank listing who he lived with, Friday wrote “no one.”

A conviction for first-degree murder carries a minimum sentence of life in prison and can be punishable by death.

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